


The nice monster

by ravenditefairylights



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen, No Apologies, and maedhros is being awesome, and meadhros remembers his life at tirion, celegorm is being mean, elrond has a nighmare, s, so he goes to maedhros, the little ones are scared, this startedf out sad and ended up fluffy and sad, when he used to have six younger brother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 11:11:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13145451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenditefairylights/pseuds/ravenditefairylights
Summary: "There's a monster under my bed." "Yes, he watches over you and chases away your nightmares."Maedhros has six younger brothers, and when one -or four- of them need reassurance, he is always there to provide it. When they are all gone, Nelyo the older brother is gone with them, or is he? A scared Elrond disagrees. One-shot.





	The nice monster

**Author's Note:**

> I got the nice monster idea from a tumblr post and decided to write this. Maedhros is apparently a big softie and really good with kids, that's how I picture him. I mean, he had six younger brothers, he is bound to know about kids. So, here I have Maedhros being an awesome big brother and an awesome foster parent.

Maitimo looked up from his book when he heard a soft thudding on the stairs. Minutes later, Morifinwë appeared at the door, dragging a pillow behind him.

"Moryo?" Maitimo asked, closing the book and setting it at the table beside him. The Elfling looked up, and used his empty hand to rub his eyes. "What are you doing still up? You should be sleeping." Maitimo stood up and walked towards his little brother. Morifinwë looked down and shuffled his feet.

"Moryo." Maitimo sterned. "Why are you not sleeping?"

"There's a monster under my bed." Morifinwë muttered. Maitimo stared for a moment, before he realized that his brother was expecting an answer.

"Well Moryo..." he started, fully intending on telling the Elfling that there was no such thing, but the youngling's eyes stopped him. Morifinwë was looking up at him with disappointment, as if he expected Maitimo to call him silly and sent him to bed; where the Elfling would probably spent the rest of the night awake, afraid to do anything in fear of the monster under his bed. Maitimo couldn't do that. "Yes, he watches over you and chases away your nightmares." He said finally, and Morifinwë's eyes lit up in hope.

"You believe me?"

"Yes _titta herendo_ , of course I do." Maitimo smiled.

"Tyelko said I was being silly." Morifinwë muttered and lowered his head.

"Tis because Tyelko doesn't know about the nice monster. Only older brothers know about it." Maitimo quickly made up a lie that did not involve saying anything bad about the blond Elfling.

"But Tyelko is my older brother too." Morifinwë said, and Maitimo cursed internally.

"Yes, but I'm the oldest, so I'm the only one who knows about it. He keeps all my little brothers safe." Maitimo said slowly. Finally, Morifinwë seemed satisfied.

"Nelyo?"

"Yes, Moryo?"

"Will you tuck me in?" He asked with those wide eyes Maitimo could never resist.

"Of course." He smiled. "Come here." He took Morifinwë's small hand in his and led the Elfling back to his own room.

* * *

It wasn't until Morifinwë tucked on Maitimo's sleeve twice, that the oldest son of Fëanor heard the sniffling. Pausing in the middle of the corridor with Morifinwë next to him, he located the crying from Curufinwë's room.

Curufinwë was sitting on his bed, with his hands curled around his legs, sobbing silently into his knees. Maitimo, alarmed, let go of Morifinwë's hand and approached his other little brother. Curufinwë was the fifth son of Fëanor, the second to last youngest prince before the twins.

"Kurvo, what is the matter?" The Elfling ignored him.

"Kurvo?" Morifinwë hesitantly asked, coming next to Maitimo at the side of the bed of his little brother.

Maitimo slowly reached his arms out and embraced the sobbing Elfling. Curufinwë almost immediately flung his arms around him, seeking the security and comfort his oldest brother provided.

"Kurvo what is wrong? Did you have a nightmare?" Maitimo asked softly. Usually, when Curufinwë needed something, it was Tyelkormo he went to.

Curufinwë shook his head. "There's a monster in my closet!" The Elfling sobbed and buried his head into Maitimo's shoulder. Ignoring the coincidence about the imaginary monster, and fully aware that Morifinwë was still here, Maitimo tried to give Curufinwë a similar answer.

"Yes, he likes the flowery smell _Ama_ puts in your clothes when she washes them and he's busy trying to organise your shoes."

Curufinwë stopped crying and looked up at him with red rimmed eyes. "How do you know?" He whispered.

"Because he's my friend." Maitimo lied quickly, getting accustomed to the story. "He hides in the house and watches over all my little brothers for me."

"Really?" Curufinwë's watery eyes were filled with hope.

"Really. Right Moryo?" Maitimo asked for a second opinion to further reassure his brother. Morifinwë eagerly nodded. Curufinwë seemed conviced, and rested his head on Maitimo's shoulder.

"Ready to go back to sleep?" Maitimo asked softly, rubbing circles in Curufinwë's small back.

"Can I sleep with you?" Curufinwë asked, doing the wide eyes all his little brothers used when they wanted to get their way.

"Yes!" Morifinwë suddenly exclaimed, and tackled him from behind, wrapping his arms around Maitimo's waist without letting go of his pillow. "We'll sleep with you."

Faced with two pairs of wide, pleading eyes, it was impossible for Maitimo to deny. Sighing, he agreed and took Morifinwë's hand into his right and Curufinwë's in his left and walked to his room.

* * *

As Maitimo pushed the door to his bedroom's chamber open, the two black-haired Elflings ran straight towards his bed and climbed on it. Maitimo's bed was king-sized, and it would fit the three of them just fine. He had just finished tucking his little brothers in, when there was a soft knock on the door. Before he had the chance to sigh, it slid open, revealing two red identical heads.

"Ambarussa?" Maitimo stared at the twins, the youngest sons of Fëanor. "Why are you not sleeping?"

The twins looked at each other, as if communicating silently, and then Telvo answered.

"There's a monster behind our door."

Maitimo's eyebrows disappered into his hairline. This was too many monsters to be a coincidence.

"Yes, his job is to keep out the nightmare bringers and get me if any gets past. He is a nice monster. He watches over all my little brothers for me." Maitimo repeated the same thing he told Morifinwë and Curufinwë. The twins looked at each other again.

"Really?" Pityo asked.

"Really!" Curufinwë piped in. Morifinwë next to him, nodded. "He keeps my nightmares away." He stated.

Ambarussa's eyes shone. "Can we sleep here too? Please?" They pleaded.

Maitimo sighed. "Yes, come here."

The twins ran over and tackled him in a hug before climbing on the bed and settling themselves beside Curufinwë.

"Now," Maitimo started as he sat on the bed, "does it not seem a little strange to you that all four of you found the monster tonight?"

All four Elflings suddenly became very interested in the bed covers.

"Morifinwë." Maedhros picked the oldest princeling, hoping that he would get an answer. However, it was Curufinwë that answered him.

"Tyelko told us a story."

"Uh-hum." Maitimo nodded . "What story did he tell you?"

No one answered him for a moment.

"He said that there was a monster in the house that lurked in the dark corners and ate little Elflings." Morifinwë whispered, and hugged his pillow tighter. Maitimo's eyes darkened; Tyelko was going to have a talk with his oldest brother tomorrow.

"But now you now that the monster is nice and he's keeping you safe." Maitimo said. Slowly, all the Elflings nodded. "Good. Let's go to sleep then." He said, lying down on the bed. All four Elflings had been convinced, and after he talked with Tyelko tommorow, the nice monster would most probably never need make an appearence again. The four Elflings snuggled into Maitimo's sides, enjoying the comfort the oldest brother provided.

That was how Makalaurë found them the next morning, when he came to wake Maitimo up.

"Were we having a sleepover and I missed it?" He said, taking in the sleepy-eyed Elflings and a wild-haired Maitimo. The oldest redhead glared at him.

* * *

Many years of war and fast reflexes had Maedhros' eyes snapping to focus when the door cricked. He sat up quickly, and stopped dead when he spotted the black-haired Elfling at the opening of the door. It was too dark to recognize which one of the twins it was, so Maedhros made a guess.

"Elros?" The black mop of hair shook his head negatively. "Elrond?" Maedhros sounded more surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Elrond was the youngest of the twin sons of Ëarendil Maedhros and Maglor had fostered after the third kinslaying; and he usually prefered Maglor over the fiery redhead. The twins had finally, after a few weeks, take a liking to the elves they were resigned to be raised by, and when they opened up, the household had been divided into pairs.

Elros, the oldest, usually prefered Maedhros. He was not afraid of the scarred appearance -none of them was anymore- and his liking for swords and fights was more like Maedhros out of the two High elves. Elrond on the other hand, had more in common with Maglor. Both of them younger brothers and both of them liked music more than weapons; Elrond had also recently expressed the wish of being a healer.

Which is why Maedhros was quite surprised to find Elrond sneaking into his room. He felt touched by the choice, really; he liked Elrond no less than Elros, but he was still surprised.

Elrond took a few hesitant steps forward and shuffled his feet. Maedhros was cruelly reminded of Caranthir doing the same thing many centuries ago. Back in Valinor, when all of his little brothers had been small and without care, oblivious to how cruel the world could be, Meadhros as the oldest was always the comforter. Reassuring the Elflings after a nightmare, tending the small injuries and helping them with their studies. It was not a role he had played for many centuries now.

"There's a ghost in the stairs." Elrond whispered fearfully.

The sentence hit Maedhros hard; reminding him of the better days in Valinor, when Celegorm had scared all the youngsters with a silly monster story, and they had all stayed in Maedhros' room that night. Choosing to follow the same tactic he had used back then, he picked his next words carefully.

"Yes, he collects the spiders and makes sure you do not trip while going to get water." He hoped his voice did not sound so weak to Elrond.

The black head snapped upwards at his words, and a frown passed over the childish features. "No he does not. He is a ghost, ghosts are not nice."

"This one is." Maedhros said, patting the space next to him in the mattress. Elrond hesitantly climbed up. "He used to be a monster, a nice monster. Back when I was in Valinor, he was my friend and he used to watch over all my little brothers for me. When we passed into Middle-earth he followed me and when my little brothers went back home, he became a ghost; and now he watches over you and Elros." Maedhros' voice had taken a nostalgic tone, but the Elfling did not seem to notice.

"Really?" Elrond asked, looking up at the redhead with hope. Maedhros swallowed a lump in his throat at the child's similarity to both Moryo and Kurvo in that moment, and he masked it with a smile.

"Yes, _titinwe,_ really."

"So you believe me." Elrond stated, as if he wanted to test if Maedhros was making fun of him or not.

"Yes, I do." Maedhros blew a stand of hair out of Elrond's face with his good hand. "But I think now is the time to go to sleep. Come on." He patted the unoccupied pillow next to him.

"I'll sleep with you?" Elrond's eyes were wide with surprise.

"If you want." Maedhros was quick to add, mistaking Elrond's surprise for fear. Instead of an answer Elrond drew the covers up and settled himself into the bed.

**Author's Note:**

> Fëanorian Names (for those that don't know them):  
> Maedhros- Maitimo, Nelyo(nickname)  
> Maglor- Makalaurë  
> Celegorm- Tyelkormo, Tyelko(nickname)  
> Caranthir- Morofinwë, Moryo(nickname)  
> Curufin- Curufinwë, Kurvo(nickname)  
> Amrod- Ambarussa, Telvo(nickname)  
> Amras- Ambarussa, Pityo(nickname)
> 
> Qenya Translations:  
> titta herendo= little brother  
> Ama= mother  
> titinwe= small star


End file.
